Leonore Restaurant — Restaurant in Salem

Even though it’s been over 10 years, it’s true what they say — time is the master of everything. Give people enough time, and truth has a way of bubbling back up. Leonore may have moved to Salem, but bad habits don’t relocate that easily. The embezzlement charges may have disappeared after they paid up, but some of us still remember how things really worked.

Paychecks were rarely on time — unless you were one of the favorites, like the guy who could show up nearly an hour late and still get a pass. Meanwhile, others were chewed out for being two minutes behind. Staff were expected to go above and beyond, only to return in the morning to clean up after the owner’s late-night hangouts with his buddies — bottles and glasses left out like someone else’s problem.

And on the last day, when enough was enough, I watched my ex-girlfriend — who gave that job everything she had — stand her ground for two solid hours, arguing with a man who never once respected her effort. She deserved better. We all did.

Oh — and for what it’s worth, when the owner thinks he’s some kind of tiramisu master but needs someone to show him a photo from their trip to Italy just to understand what a real one looks like… yeah, that kind of tells you everything.

Everything I’ve said here falls squarely within my First Amendment rights to express personal experience and opinion — and I stand by every word. The only thing well-done at this place was...

Our party of 4 decided to try this place before the 9:30pm Comedy show at the Market Building. At 8:15 we were seated quickly in a room with very loud live music and waited about 10 minutes before our server took our drink order. She was already apologizing for our wait and brought the drinks out promptly. Each couple ordered an appetizer to split but they came out slowly, one at a time. So 20 minutes after ordering we got one app then 10 minutes later we got the 2nd app. The bruschetta and tequenos were very good!! So at this point it's 8:55, we are starting to worry about having time to eat our entrees versus running them back to the car. At 9:15 we decided there was no time left to eat or place in the car, canceled our order and asked to pay for the drinks and apps we'd eaten. There was quite a bit of confusion about this and getting our change so we could continue to the show. The person I assume to be the owner came out to ask "what the problem was" and "the order had only been up 35 minutes" None of us were very impressed but how things were handled and were highly disappointed to continue the evening without dinner. I am willing to try again because the food I did have was delicious but only if I have plenty of time wait for it. I do wish we had the choice of sitting near the music or...

My boyfriend and I stopped in after hiking to the Roanoke Star last Saturday. We found it quite by accident, after traipsing across town looking for food options that weren't 30/plate. The restaurant was busy when we got there, so we waited at the bar. (Good service. Nice bartender.)

The restaurant can't quite figure out what it wants to be; it's Italian / Venezuelan fusion. ... So naturally, we decided to try both sides. The arepa was delicious... Chicken salad with avocado. Mm. So creamy and tasty. Would definitely order it again. The garlic knots were slightly over cooked, but yummy, especially with the exquisite marinara served on the side. His entree, chicken Alfredo, was not incredibly noteworthy, just creamy and cheesy. Honestly, I wish I'd stuck with the arepa, because....

My entree, chicken marsala, tasted so strange, that I started feeling sick from the flavour after four bites. I would not recommend that dish at all. I packed it up and brought it home. The next day, I decided to "try" it again... Still horrible. In the end, I doctored it up with Alfredo sauce from a jar and sauteed mushrooms.

Overall, the service was good, the food was good, the mixed drinks were good. If you want a neat experience with affordable prices, try...